Ben Wilson

This is the blog of a one Ben Wilson, a Louisville, Kentucky native who enjoys baseball, beer, music, bikes, things that fly and good food. By day he pushes pixels and makes the Internet happen for a local advertising agency. His wife, Kelly is an Ironman, and his baby Amelia is the cutest thing ever.

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What is the IronMan Triathlon?

It’s what’s known as an “endurance race”. It combines three sports – swimming, cycling and running – into one nearly day-long race. First, Kelly will swim 2.4 miles in the Ohio River and then she will bike 112 miles from Downtown Louisville to LaGrange and back, and then she will run 26.2 miles – a full marathon. It is likely going to take her 14-16 hours to complete it.

The IronMan is considered the ultimate physical challenge. It is also the best-run, most professional and safest race I’ve ever seen. Over 2,500 volunteers from Louisville and abroad man all 140.6 miles of the course and the race HQ at 4th Street Live in Downtown Louisville.

IronMan Louisville is one of many IronMan(tm) races that will be held this year. It was held last year, and was extremely well received. They had to turn away volunteers and the registration sold out. The finish for the race is under the glass ceiling of 4th Street Live and the excitement there is really, truly a spectacle to behold. Kelly volunteered in 2007 and was hooked!

When and Where Can I See Kelly at the race?

The race begins SUNDAY, AUGUST 31st @ The Great Lawn @ 7 AM.

The swim start is NOT a mass start like most IronMan races, so we are not sure of the exact time Kelly will start. Keep an eye on the LIVE FEED that I’ll be updating throughout the day for exact info.

The Great LawnThe swim finishes here, the bike begins and ends here and the run starts here. The center of activity!

LaGrange
One of the most popular spots will be the bike course turnaround (near halfway) in LaGrange, Kentucky. There, the city will be hosting the LaGrange IronMan Festival, complete with shuttle service!

Southern Parkway @ Iroquois ParkThe marathon course is two loops between downtown and Iroquois Park, via 3rd, 4th and Southern Parkway. Anywhere along here would be a good spot!

4th Street Live
The halfway point of the marathon is actually in viewing distance of the finish line between 3rd and 4th Streets at Muhammad Ali Blvd. This would also be an excellent place to cheer – and all the racers will need it at that point in the race.

The finish of the IronMan is under the roof of 4th Street Live.

Why is Kelly doing this?

Kelly has likely asked herself this quite a few times while training twice-a-day most days since November of 2007! Me being her husband, I can’t exactly say. Maybe it’s because she turned 30 this year. Maybe she’s looking for something she hasn’t found yet in her life. Maybe she’s just doing it because it is there. All I know for sure is that you can blame Debi for talking her into it.

Here’s an excellent clip about Women in the IronMan – they’ve been there almost from the inception…

Every IronMan has it’s own crop of inspiriational stories – and one of the best known is “Team Hoyt“. A father and his cerebral-palsy stricken son have completed 6 IronMan competitions. Six! Watch a clip about them here: Team Hoyt – Redeemer @ YouTube.

Should I be concerned?

Knowing what you know now about the Ironman Triathlon, you are likely worried about the health and well-being of Kelly. This is not an uncommon reaction. Let me allay those fears by giving you a little background on the amount of time and training Kelly has put into this:

Kelly’s Atheltic Resume

TrainingKelly has been training since November 2007 using BeginnerTriathlete.com‘s IronMan training program. Kelly follows the training religiously.
Kelly does not skip workouts.
Kelly understands her body – her limits, her nutritional needs and her goals.

Swimming
Kelly swam competitively between the ages of 10-16. There was a span of a few years where she did not lose a butterfly race. She is still considered extremely fast in the water – she has routinely finished in the top of her age group in the swim.

Cycling
Kelly began bike training in November, and has logged 2000+ miles both indoor and outdoor since.

Almost a month ago, Kelly did 4 days of 40 miles a day on the bike.

Kelly did a 100-mile bike ride two weeks ago (see my blog post about it), and while I kept up with her the whole way, she was in much, much, much better shape afterwards. It was hard to tell that she had ridden 100 miles!

Even I, her husband, had concerns about her doing this race when she first told me. I had seen the videos of the pro-level athletes giving it there all and suffering some really terrible physical breakdowns during the race. I was concerned.

However, having trained side-by-side with Kelly for the last year, and seen just how strong and sensible she is, I no longer have those concerns. Kelly is going to kick this race’s ass and look good at the finish.

Go Kelly Go!
This is an awesome undertaking and you should be so proud of yourself. I cant imagine the dedication, hours and shear mental determination you have to train and compete in these three athletic disciplines (and at these distances).

[...] out and all were very, very surprised. It would seem they had given up on us having kids! What with Kelly’s epic IronMan adventure I guess that was a little warranted, but c’mon folks! It’s not the 1800’s anymore [...]